AFTER COMING UP just short in the NBA Finals having set a record for wins in the regular season, Golden State Warriors look like they’ll be even better next time around.
Kevin Durant, one of the lethal talents in the NBA, has opted to move to The Bay Area on a two-year contract worth a reported $54.3 (€48.7) million.
The 27-year-old leaves Oklahoma City Thunder as a free agent having joined the franchise (then the Seattle Supersonics) as a first-round draft pick in 2007.
Durant announced his decision on the Derek Jeter-owned ThePlayersTribune.com, saying:
“This has been by far the most challenging few weeks in my professional life. I understood cognitively that I was facing a crossroads in my evolution as a player and as a man, and that it came with exceptionally difficult choices. What I didn’t truly understand, however, was the range of emotions I would feel during this process.
“The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player — as that has always steered me in the right direction. But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors.
“I’m from Washington, D.C. originally, but Oklahoma City truly raised me. It taught me so much about family as well as what it means to be a man.”
He adds:
“I will miss Oklahoma City, and the role I have had in building this remarkable team. I will forever cherish the relationships within the organisation — the friends and teammates that I went to war with on the court for nine years, and all the fans and people of the community. They have always had my back unconditionally, and I cannot be more grateful for what they have meant to my family and to me.”
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